São Paulo – The United Arab Emirates’s Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) reported last Monday (26) the completion of delivery of five ATR 72-600 model aircraft to Brazil’s Azul airline. DAE is active in aircraft leasing and chaired by sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who is also the chairman of Emirates airline and of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.
According to information from the Azul press office, the five units were delivered last year. The model’s list price is US$ 25 million.
Azul has 60 ATRs in its fleet. The model leased from DAE is a 70-seater turboprop flown regionally. According to the press office, the aircraft bring in passengers from smaller cities, primarily in the inland, to central airports.
From Campinas, in the state of São Paulo, the airline’s main hub, for instance, the aircraft are flown to countryside destinations such as Ribeirão Preto, São José de Rio Preto, Araçatuba, Marilia and Bauru. The same holds true of other parts of Brazil, with flights from smaller airports feeding hubs and enabling connections between capital cities and foreign countries.
Besides the ATRs, Azul’s fleet comprises 80 Embraer jets and Airbus A330 units.
“We are delighted to include Azul as one of DAE’s new clients in Latin America,” said DAE managing director Khalifa Al-Daboos in a press release. “We look forward to a mutually rewarding long-term relationship with Azul in this rapidly expanding market,” he added. This was the first leasing deal between the two enterprises.
“We are pleased to add DAE to our list of finance partners and look forward to a long-term relationship with DAE particularly as we increase the number of aircraft in our fleet,” said Azul’s CEO David Neeleman in the DAE press release.
DAE reports that it ordered 40 ATRs 72-600 units in 2014. The aircraft is made by ATR, from Toulouse, France. DAE has also said its portfolio was approximately US$ 3.6 billion by the end of last year. Besides leasing, the Arab company operates in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
